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Psychotherapy of Depression: Current Status, Future Directions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Michael E. Thase
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Abstract

This article reviews recent studies of psychotherapy for treatment of depression. There is evidence that cognitive behavioral and interpersonal therapies are useful treatments for depressed outpatients, roughly comparable to antidepressant pharmacotherapy. Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy do not, however, necessarily treat the same patients and there is emerging evidence of a neurobiological “boundary” that may delimit therapy response. Psychotherapy plus pharmacotherapy combinations appear particularly useful for outpatients with more severe, recurrent depressions. Depression-focused psychotherapy may also provide an important alternative to an indefinite course of maintenance pharmacotherapy for patients at high risk for recurrence.

Type
Feature Articles
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 4 , Issue 7: Depression at the Millennium: Time for a Biological Understanding , July 1999 , pp. 62 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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